Actor Nicol Williamson (b.1938) died on December 16. Williamson, who hasn’t appeared on film since 1997, is best known for his role as Merlin in John Boorman’s 1981 film Excalibur, has appeared in numerous genre films over the years, including Venom, Spawn, Return to Oz, and The Exorcist III. Williamson also took great pride in a recording of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. He also played Little John in Robin and Marion and Sherlock Holmes in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution.